A Pilot

We bought a Honda Pilot! This has been my car of choice for the last few years. Jon does not like SUVs, but after a few years, he warmed up to the idea ;) And since I will be the main driver, the car fanatic let me choose. Isn't he great :)

We have had a hard time fitting in the Civic. Its ok for staying around town, but if we ever want to go camping or go out of town on the weekend, or even take anyone with us, or buy something at Home Depot we struggle to fit.

One time we went to buy a hose reel, a latter, rake and some other home supplies, and forgot that Jon's snow tires were still in the trunk. In trying to fit it all in we moved Zac's carseat over to the smaller fold down seat, folded the 60% of the back seat down. Put the passenger seat all the way up where Jon sat while holding the hose reel, while I drove with the steering wheel slighly pushing in to my 7 month pregnant belly. But we made it home safely with all our stuff.

And it happens to be the color I wanted! Its a 2006. Sorry the pictures aren't the best.



Now to sell the Bimmer. . . Anyone interested? Its great looking car!

Mother's Day

I have a tendency to talk about all the hard things about being a Mother, but I just want everyone to know that I love it. There isn't anything else I would rather be doing with my life right now.

Here are some things, just off the top of my head, that I love about being a mom:

*Watching the boys try new things and learn new things
*Watching them have success with those new things and being the first to applaud them
*Watching them sleep
*Being able to comfort and cuddle them when they get hurt
*Reading children's stories and looking at picture books
*Sharing my favorite kids' books with them like, "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs", "Love You Forever" and the "Little Critter" books
*An excuse to have Disney a part of our home and entertainment
*Getting to buy little kids things, that would be pure indulgence if it weren't for them (a frog lantern, bug catchers and cute little shoes)
*Giggling with them
*Having talks before bedtime about whatever is on Zac's mind
*Getting to know their personality
*Having a baby's room in the house
*Laying out all day next to the kiddie pool
*Going to the library-story time
*Going to the park and teaching Zac how to use the monkey bars and the fire pole
*Cuddling with Max before putting him to bed
*Singing to them and knowing they don't care or know how bad I sing
*Not feeling childish for buying snack puddings and goldfish
*Always having a toy car in my purse
*How date nights and girls nights are SOO much more fun because I know what a break it is
*Going to the pool 1-3x a week in the summer
*Shopping for their clothes, toys, and room decor
*Being able to go to lunch and not be alone, and eat a kids meals

This Mother's Day was so enjoyable! The boys made me the perfect breakfast in bed and got me flowers, and this cute mug, and an electric toothbrush (which I have been wanting for months).






Then at church the youth and priesthood took over all the primary classes, so I got to enjoy the Gospel Doctrine Sunday School class and Relief Society. It was perfect.

Then we went to my parents for steak dinner and homemade Lemon Ice Cream (my mom loves all things lemon) and we got to talk to Elder Kolb on the phone. It was really good to talk to him. He is doing great! Keep up the good work Elder! We love you!

Blogging is tricky without a camera. My mom let me borrow her camera for all these last posts. Thanks Mom!

More Jumbo Clothes Pins

This year, with my Reunion trip and reconnecting to my life after I finishing babysitting, Mother's Day really sneaked? (how about snuck.. but that isn't a word is it?..sneaked just sounds off...) sneaked up on me.

I didn't get a package out til the Tuesday after. So I wanted to wait to post this until after the package arrived.

I also made the jumbo clothes pins for my moms.


These are what the backs look like.


This one is double-sided. The back side is designed upside down so it can hold a music book open while playing the piano.


The backs

These were a lot more time consuming than I anticipated, but they were fun to make. I especially like the mirror birds.

Last Day of Preschool

Sorry for back posting. I really have no excuse, except I forgot I had pictures for this.

Zac went to preschool this year and LOVED it! He only went from January through April, but it was something he looked forward to every week. He always did his homework and enjoyed it. He seemed to like the math stuff more than the letters. He made some friends and enjoyed the independence.

Since his Birthday is in August they celebrated his Birthday on the last day of class. He got to bring his favorite toy and book for show and tell. He brought a remote control car, and the book, "Where the Wild Things are". He also got to bring treats, chocolate pudding!

They also had a pizza pajama party on the last day. These are his favorite pajamas :)


Also for his special day, we made a poster about himself. It was fun to put it together and look back through his pictures.

I have seen these cute, jumbo/oversized clothes pins and have wanted to make them for a while. This was the perfect reason to jump on that. We gave these to his teacher as a thank you gift.


I love the ruler ribbon! The red one has cursive upper case and lower case letters on the paper. It was really fun to pick out these supplies.

Girls Weekend Reunion

This weekend I went to a reunion with girls from my Freshman year of college. It was a blast! This is the first time I have ever done anything like this, and gone on a trip with no kids or husband. It was sooo much fun! I did miss my family, but it was so nice to just be me. And not have to worry about all my other responsibilities.

We all met during Y groups after moving into the seventh floor in T-Hall of Deseret Towers on BYU campus. It was one of the best years of my life. Twelve of us have stayed in contact over the years. Once or twice a year whomever is close will get together for a girls night or for lunch.

(I stole these stats from Lisa's Blog. I hope you don't mind Lisa . . .)

Some stats about the 12 of us:
We all graduated with a bachelors degree
1 is in the process of getting her doctorate
1 has her masters (I think)
1 is almost done with her masters program
1 served a full time mission for the LDS church
5 of us have kids (2 each)
2 are pregnant with their first, both due on the same day, both having boys
1 is starting the adoption process
10 of us are married (all in the temple), ranging from 6+ years to less than a year
1 has already retired from a successful career
1 is starting her own business
5 live in Utah
2 in California
1 in Texas
1 in Idaho
1 in Maryland
1 in Washington
1 in Arizona

We all met up in Arizona where one of the girls lives. I flew out on Thursday evening and happened to be on the same flight as Reina. It was so nice to have a "flying buddy". I was a little anxious about seeing everyone and hoping it wouldn't be too awkward since it had been so long since we'd all seen each other. But seriously there was nothing to worry about. It was like we hadn't been apart. We just continued on as if no time had passed. It was so fun to see everyone and catch up.

We stayed at a Marriott Resort. I had never stayed at one before. It was soo nice! After settling in we all headed to the hot tub.

Top row: Karly, Meredeth, Natalie, Reina
Bottom row: Me, Shauna, Lisa, Emily, Jennie, Rachel
Maren is taking the picture

Then the next day we spent a lot of the day at the pool. I got a bit sun burned. Doesn't that always happen on the first day?!

I LOVE eating at the poolside. We had a light lunch at the pool and the other half went to lunch off the resort.

Then we all got ready and went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. We met up with 2 more girls from Freshman year too. Brooke (my roommate) and Gladriel (Maren's roommate). It was so fun to see them too.

Left to Right: Brook, Me, Maren, and Gladriel

Brooke and Me

The next morning we decided to wake up very early, 6a, and go hike Camelback Mountain. It's just over a mile up, but I was surprised at how rigorous it was. There were a couple places where it is so steep that there are railings to help you up.

And other parts where the rocks were easier to climb by just using your hands. I would say if this was anymore rigorous it would be rock climbing! There were some crazy people that would hike it 3 times in a row, 6 days a week! And others that went as fast as they could, jumping around like a mountain goat! We saw a couple different guys on the way up and on the way down when we saw them they were going up again!

We all made it. It was challenging for me. But it felt good to conquer it :)

There were GREAT views-360 degrees!
I think this is looking out to the Phoenix area.


Then after the hike we went to spend the rest of the time before check out at the pool.

This is all of us, minus Giselle who couldn't make it. We missed you Giselle!

Pinacoladas by the pool

After check out 3 girls headed home. And the rest of us went to Meredeth's house for another day. We went and got Golden Spoon frozen yogurt and then some of us got pedicures, we got take out from Rumbi and ate and chatted by the pool, until it got dark and then spent and hour trying to decided what chic-flick to watch. We were all so tired and couldn't make decisions, it was pretty funny! :) Then Sunday morning I flew home.

Did you know they have R.O.U.S.'s in Arizona? Otherwise knows as Javelina's...not pigs...


It was a super fun trip and I can't wait til the next one! Thanks girls!!

And thank you Jon for making this all possible. Thank you for taking on the stay-at-home parent role.

Jon also went to the nursery and bought flowers and completed the planter in the backyard, it looks great! He took the boys to the mall where Zac got to meet McGruff the Crime Dog. Zac got his picture taken and fingerprints done. Then Jon picked up his brothers, Dave and Jason for a guys night (with the kids). They listened to music, watched the NBA playoffs and ate junk food! I'm glad Jon got to have a little bit of fun between running all over town and dragging the kiddies along ;)

The Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point

On Tuesday, my Mom had the day off so we decided to go to the Tulip Festival. It was just my mom, dad, me and the boys. I have always wanted to go. It was beautiful! This is my first time touring the gardens, and in Spring. A couple years ago, during the summer, I worked at Thanksgiving Point helping with weddings as a Fairy Godmother, but the tulips were not around then. My parents wanted to take lots of pictures of flowers they liked to make plans for some of their gardens. I am just going to include some of my favorite flower pictures in with pictures of us.




I am not a photographer in any way and I would love have some friends who are come and take pics for me. Maybe next year! So this is my lame attempt :)

Zac can be VERY stubborn like any child his age. Just because I wanted him to smile of course he was not going to. But still I like the effect... very good glare :)

Papi was tickling him and got a good smile :)




I love these peach-ish ones! It reminds me of those yummy Big Stick Popsicles we had as kids.


The boys loved feeding these fish! They were huge! They would try and swim over each other to get the food-the fish not the boys.



Looking at the geese

Zac LOVED this door. There is a dark archway covered in vines on one side and a "secret garden" on the other side. He could just open and close and run through this door all day!

(This is my hair with no product and hardly any styling-just blown dry.)

Again, couldn't get a good smile


Thanks Mom and Dad for taking us with you! It was a really fun time!